Sunak announces massive transport investment after scrapping HS2
NEW RULE: The Prime Minister pledged to spend the £36billion on hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands (Image: Getty)
In a significant policy shift, Rishi Sunak today confirmed that the Birmingham-Manchester leg of HS2 would be scrapped. Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, the Prime Minister cited soaring costs and pledged to reinvest the £36billion allocated for HS2 into an array of new transport projects across the North, Midlands and the entire country.
Addressing the conference, Sunak stated that the costs of the HS2 project had ‘more than doubled’ since its inception. He said: “I say to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed.
“And the right thing to do when the facts change is to have the courage to change direction.” As part of a drive to create a new northern network, he pledged to invest in a raft of other transport schemes, reported NottinghamshireLive[1].
“I am ending this long-running saga. I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project and in its place, we will reinvest every single penny, £36billion, in hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, across the country. This means £36billion of investment in the projects that will make a real difference across our nation,” Sunak said.
As part of this redirection of funds, Sunak unveiled plans for what he named Network North – a comprehensive effort to enhance road, rail and bus systems in the northern regions. His initiative aims to make significant improvements to transportation connectivity in the North and the Midlands, with a focus on reducing travel times and bolstering regional networks.
The key notable projects mentioned by the Prime Minister during his speech at the Conservative Party conference were:
- Train journeys from Manchester on a ‘fully electrified line’ to a new station in Bradford in 30 minutes, Sheffield in 42 minutes and Hull in one hour and 24 minutes.
- He will ‘protect the £12billion to link up Manchester and Liverpool as planned’.
- Build the Midlands Rail Hub connecting 50 stations.
- Extend the West Midlands Metro.
- Build a tram network in Leeds.
- Electrify the North Wales Mainline.
- Keep the £2 cap on single bus fares across England.
- Upgrade the A1, A2, A5 and M6 roads.
- Upgrade the A75 to boost links between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Fund the proposed Shipley Bypass in Bradford, the Blyth Relief Road in Northumberland and ‘deliver 70 other road schemes’.
- Resurface roads ‘across the country’.
- Reopen the Don Valley railway line between Sheffield and Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire.
- Upgrade the Energy Coast railway line between Carlisle, Workington and Barrow, Cumbria.
- Build ‘hundreds of other schemes’.